Big Swings in Stock Market Are at Their Highest Level Since 2011

Stocks across Wall Street are enduring one of the most prolonged periods of turbulent trading of the past decade. So far this year, there have been 12 instances of the S&P 500 moving at least 3 percent from its intraday low to its high, according to data from Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst for S&P Dow Jones Indices. Four of those swings were greater than 4 percent.

This figure is the most in a single year since 2011, when the European debt crisis flared up and Standard & Poor’s cut its rating on United States government debt.

The pickup in volatility this year has accelerated in recent months, as worries about trade, global growth and interest rates keep investors on edge. More than half of the 3-percent swings have come since the most recent sell-off began in early October. And the average intraday swing this month is the highest level for a month since January 2016.

This year’s increase in volatility isn’t necessarily unusual. Over the past 56 years, the S&P 500 has averaged nearly 10 intraday swings of 3 percent or more a year. And this year’s 99 moves of 1 percent or more are well below the 169 the index has averaged since 1962.